Gavin de Becker, Jeff Bezos’s longtime
security chief, may run his own
consulting firm, write books, operate aprivate luxury terminal at
Los Angeles International Airport and develop threat-assessment tools. But he is really selling only one thing:
peace of mind.
For more than four decades, de Becker, 64, has counseled the US government, law enforcement departments, thousands of celebrity clients and countless readers on how to ward off threats and stay safe in a scary world.
His most recent case was for Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, who asked him to find out how American Media Inc., which publishes The National Enquirer, had obtained private intimate pictures of Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez.
In a blog post on Medium on Thursday, Bezos said David J Pecker, chief executive of AMI, was trying to use the photos to blackmail him and deter him—and the news outlet he owns, The Washington Post—from investigating allegations that The Enquirer’s coverage of his affair was politically motivated.
Bezos said he had asked de Becker “to proceed with whatever budget he needed”. Those are words that could inspire any employee. But de Becker has made the security of others his life’s work.
His own childhood was full of the violence and fear that he is now paid to shield others from. De Becker has written that his mother, a heroin addict, regularly beat him and his sister, and shot his stepfather. She committed suicide when he was 16.
He has investigated stalkers for stars like Olivia Newton-John and Cher. He headed security for public figures visiting President Ronald Reagan and his family at the White House. He worked with the family of Ronald L Goldman when it sued OJ Simpson over Goldman’s 1994 killing at the home of Simpson’s former wife.
For most people seeking de Becker’s advice, they can buy peace of mind for a few dollars with a paperback copy of his best-seller, The Gift of Fear.